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49-603: Merstham / ˈ m ɜːr s t ə m / is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It lies 17 miles south of Charing Cross just beyond the Greater London border. Part of the North Downs Way runs along the northern boundary of the town. Merstham has community associations, an early medieval church and a football club. Old Merstham forms the north and north-west of modern Merstham and

98-632: A non-League football club, Merstham F.C. , which plays at the Moatside. It also has a cricket club which plays in Fullers league division two. Merstham Mines, an abandoned mine, is a popular caving destination. Reigate and Banstead Reigate and Banstead is a local government district with borough status in Surrey , England. Its council is based in Reigate and the borough also includes

147-494: A four-year term of office. Surrey County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections. The council is based at Reigate Town Hall on Castlefield Road, which had been completed in 1901 for the old Reigate Borough Council. The northern third of the borough is on the North Downs or its upper slopes. Commanding viewpoints exist in several locations in this area with

196-549: A shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Reigate and Banstead. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council . The leaders since 2003 have been: Following the 2024 election and a subsequent change of allegiance later in May 2024,

245-676: A small country house, is listed and has Victorian gothic architecture features. South Merstham is made up of mainly Victorian and Edwardian terraces. It provided a workforce for Albury Manor and nearby chalk quarrying and brickworking. Nutfield Road has a long parade of shops. South Merstham is home to Connevans Limited, who, in April 2016 became holders of the Royal Warrant , by Appointment to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Supplier and Manufacturer of Audio Equipment. The area has been settled since pre- Roman times. The village lay within

294-832: Is a motorway in the United Kingdom , running from the south of Hooley in Surrey , where it splits from the A23 , to Pease Pottage , south of Crawley in West Sussex where it rejoins the A23. The northern end of the motorway starts on what is effectively a 2-mile (3.2 km) spur north of junction 7 of the M25 motorway (junction 8 on the M23). From Hooley it runs for 17 miles (27 km) past Redhill , Gatwick Airport and Crawley. A spur runs from junction 9 to Gatwick Airport. The motorway

343-427: Is also based in Reigate, having its headquarters at Woodhatch Place . In the south of the borough are two civil parishes at Horley and Salfords and Sidlow , which form a third tier of local government for their areas. The council has been under no overall control since March 2024, being led by a Conservative minority administration. The first elections to the council were held in 1973, initially operating as

392-619: Is by the M25 motorway in Walton-on-the-Hill . Notably Sutton and East Surrey Water is headquartered in Redhill and SGN in Horley. A choice of hotels exists in and around Horley including its adjacent neighbourhood, sometimes named independently by businesses and residents, Hookwood , on the east and north outskirts of London Gatwick Airport respectively. In the late 20th century the airline Dan-Air had its head office in

441-690: Is diverse, with a strong local service sector, city workers as most locations are easily within the London Commuter Belt , trades, a developed public/education sector and several farms concentrated towards cereal and root vegetable agriculture . There is an extent of woodland management . Several employers with an international renown are found in force in and around the two most commercial towns centres of Reigate and Redhill: including Willis Towers Watson , Just , Kimberly Clark , Travelers Group (insurance), AXA Insurance breakdown, Black & Veatch and Esure . Pfizer UK headquarters

490-669: Is taken from an ancient couplet and refers to the defeat of the Danes by King Alfred in a battle in the Vale of Holmesdale in the 9th century, now remembered in the name Battlebridge. Reigate Castle has also been known as Holmesdale Castle. A translation is "Never conquered nor never shall". The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. References M23 motorway The M23

539-639: Is the original village centre. There is a small day school by the railway station, a pub, a few barbershops and a small number of other shops. After World War II the London County Council built the Merstham Estate, originally entirely public housing, was built to a geometric layout in the eastern fields. This area has its own parade of shops, the Brook recreation ground, three schools, and a youth/community centre along Radstock Way. Oakley,

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588-556: The Greensand Way . The Mole forms a section of the western border of the borough down to Wonham Mill at the western extreme of Flanchford in the Reigate post town , itself at a millpond at the foot of the wooded Snag Brook a tributary which rises near the A25 Dorking Road . Much of the borough is Metropolitan Green Belt . There are significant areas of forest and heath management, including five reserves within

637-415: The North Downs plateau in the north (to Tattenham Corner via Kingswood and to Epsom Downs via Banstead, all four stations being in the borough). The borough is twinned with: The coat of arms is a combination of the elements of the Reigate shield, the device of Banstead and symbols of the parishes of Horley and Salfords and Sidlow. The shield has a background of blue and yellow chequers taken from

686-556: The Reigate hundred , an Anglo-Saxon administrative division. Its name was recorded in 947 as Mearsætham , which seems to be Anglo-Saxon Mearþ-sǣt-hām = " Homestead near a trap set for martens or weasels ". The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 851 states that a Viking army 'went south over the Thames into Surrey; and King Aethelwulf and his son Aethelbald with the West Saxon army fought against them at Aclea , and there made

735-495: The River Mole in Horley and Sidlow. The roundel on the lion has a tanner's (or flaying) knife, the emblem of St Bartholomew , the patron of Horley, who is said to have been flayed or skinned before he was crucified. The roundel on the shoulder of the horse has a sallow leaf, a reference to Salfords, which is derived from Sallow Ford. The Sallow tree is commonly known as Pussy Willow. The motto "Never Wonne ne never shall"

784-673: The South Circular Road (A205) ). In an earlier version of the Ringways Plan it would have continued into central London where it would have met the Balham Loop spur from Ringway 1 (the London Motorway Box) at Tooting . This was dropped in 1967 when the northern terminus was changed to Ringway 2. While a definite route had not been chosen at that time for the northern section, approval was met for

833-424: The A23 carrying the majority of traffic through South London to the motorway. This is largely a single carriageway route, with many level junctions, traffic lights and awkward interchanges. It travels largely through residential areas and is inadequate for the level of traffic it carries. A new junction (J10a) was opened in 1997, between J10 and J11, for access to the new Crawley neighbourhood of Maidenbower . It

882-520: The Merstham Estate was gradually built over a period spanning to the early 1970s. The old village thus became generally known as Old Merstham, and is occasionally known as Top Merstham. Rockshaw Road, on the hilltop above the conservation area of Old Merstham, was developed at the very end of the 19th century, and between the World Wars was home to many nationally notable people, among them senior Army and Navy figures, financiers and politicians. At

931-613: The Newman House in Horley , and Air Europe had its head office in Reigate . The M25 motorway passes from the middle of the east of the borough to just south of the tripoint with Epsom and Ewell and Mole Valley and has two junctions, one for the M23 motorway that passes through the eastern side of the borough north–south and starts in the northeast of the borough, the other at Reigate Hill. The A23 road from London splits into

980-466: The Shepherd's Hill bridge. The original parish church, St Katharine's, dates from around 1220; it replaced an earlier church built c. 1100, although it is believed there has been a church of some form on the site since c. 675 AD. Merstham's conservation area is centred on its High Street which winds in the village centre to the northwest, forms part of the A23 road and includes many listed buildings;

1029-541: The arms of the de Warenne family. William de Warenne accompanied William the Conqueror from Normandy and was the first Earl of Surrey and the builder of Reigate Castle . Against this pattern is the Reigate Castle Gate and oak tree. The top of the shield has a black background as in the original Reigate arms but on which is a gold woolpack between two sprigs of oak. The woolpack or woolsack refers to

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1078-532: The borough is Southern , with other services being operated by Thameslink and Great Western Railway . Through routes are the North Downs Line and the more heavily used London to Brighton line that has several operators plus several branch service routes operating to London (the destination in the borough of one such service is Reigate ). Although these are the main railways for long and short-distance travel, two branch lines cut through lower parts of

1127-455: The composition of the council was: The two residents' associations and the independent councillor sit together as a group. The next election is due in May 2026. Since the last boundary changes in 2019 the council has comprised 45 councillors representing 15 wards , with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) being elected each time for

1176-568: The first mines at Merstham recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, and 'Reigate stone' quarried there used to build parts of Westminster Abbey , Windsor Castle and Henry VIII's Nonsuch Palace . It was to serve the quarries that the village became the terminus of the Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Railway, an extension of the horse-drawn Surrey Iron Railway of 1803, the world's first public railway, albeit only for goods. A small section of

1225-548: The former importance of sheep rearing and wool production in Banstead. The oak sprigs represent the two parishes of Horley and Salfords and Sidlow. Above the shield is a helmet with a wreath and draped cloth also in the blue and gold of the de Warennes. On top of the helmet is a pilgrim referring to the ancient route along the escarpment of the North Downs by Banstead and Reigate, the Pilgrims Way . On either side of

1274-497: The greatest slaughter of a heathen raiding-army that we have heard tell of up to the present day, and there took the victory.' According to Stenton, the name Aclea nearly always appears in modern times as 'Oakley'. There is an Oakley in Merstham close to 'Old Way' prehistoric trackway. There is also a Battlebridge Lane in Merstham. The identification of the battle of Aclea with the site at Oakley in Merstham rather than Ockley in Surrey

1323-612: The junction of Battlebridge Lane and Nutfield Road is All Saints' church, the original building of which was destroyed in World War II. Volunteers from the Canadian Army worked to build a temporary church for the village, which became known as Canada Hall and is used as a village hall and weekly meeting hall for some Merstham branches of the Girl Guides. In 1951 the civil parish had a population of 3568. On 1 April 1974

1372-405: The motorway required at its northern end to distribute traffic to the east and west. The M23 plan was gradually scaled back further to omit the section across Mitcham Common and end the motorway at an unsuitable location on Croydon Road ( A232 ) before the plan was postponed indefinitely. By the late 1970s, the area along the proposed line of the motorway had become affected by blight , and while

1421-426: The national wildlife trust scheme: see Surrey Wildlife Trust . There are only two civil parishes in the borough, being Horley, and Salfords and Sidlow. The parish council for Horley has declared its parish to be a town, allowing it to take the style "town council". The pre-1974 borough of Reigate and urban district of Banstead form an unparished area . Settlements and suburbs in the borough include: The economy

1470-539: The ongoing A23 from the south and the M23 at Hooley . The A217 road is a second London road starting in Reigate via Banstead and Sutton and on to London. Two traditional, mostly up to county distance alternatives inspired the names of the north–south/east-west motorway: the low A25 between Godstone / Guildford and the A23 , the latter being used for the London to Brighton events . The main train operator in

1519-639: The overall capacity of the route. The upgrades include an all-lane-running motorway, 12 new emergency areas, a new concrete central barrier replacing the current steel one, new roadside sound barriers, variable speed limits and two new emergency access slip roads. Changes were also implemented on the M23 junction 9 spur, with the hard shoulder west bound converted to a running lane, and static 50 mph (80 km/h) speed limits implemented in both directions. In January 2020 all smart motorway projects were put under review due to concerns about their safety, during this period no new smart motorways could open. The review

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1568-513: The parish was abolished. The parish of Merstham contains various historic estates including: London Buses run to Croydon , Coulsdon , Purley and Redhill town centre. Metrobus operates buses to Reigate , Caterham and Woldingham . The village is served by Merstham railway station on the Brighton Main Line , with services to London Bridge , London Victoria and Gatwick Airport . The average level of accommodation in

1617-417: The project is completed and can run at the national speed limit . Data from driver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information. Where a junction spans several hundred metres (yards) and start and end points are available, both are cited. 51°15′51″N 0°07′40″W  /  51.26417°N 0.12789°W  / 51.26417; -0.12789  ( Junction 8 of

1666-584: The proposals were finally dropped in the mid-1980s, much of the land reserved for the route was not released by the Department for Transport until the mid-1990s. The missing section of motorway and the missing six junctions north of Hooley were not constructed due to the refusal of the GLC to finance the project, having encountered large scale opposition to the construction of Ringways elsewhere in London. However,

1715-591: The railway is on display at the entrance to Quality Street, Old Merstham. Unfortunately, this section has now been taken. Mercers Lake was a former sand quarry, and is now used for water sports and fishing. The use of dynamite was first publicly demonstrated by Alfred Nobel in Price's Grey-lime Stone chalk quarry in July 1868. The site is now partly covered by the route of the M23 motorway just east of where it passes under

1764-411: The region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%. The proportion of households who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free). Merstham has

1813-480: The route south of the Greater London boundary at Hooley. By 1972 the southern section of Ringway 2 had been dropped from the plan, with an alternative proposal that the M23 continue further into London to end on Ringway 1. This was immediately countered in the same year by the GLC , who announced they would not be building that Ringway, which meant that had the M23 continued north into inner London it would not have had

1862-499: The scale of the four-tier junction between the M23 and the M25, one of only three stack interchanges in the UK, is indicative of the importance attached to the M23 at that time. Between July 2018 and July 2020 works took place to upgrade the M23 between junctions 8 and 10 to an all-lane-running motorway . The upgrades took place mostly for more reliable journeys to Gatwick Airport and increase

1911-556: The shield is a white lion and a white horse. The lion comes from the arms of the de Mowbray family who were briefly Lords of the Manor of Banstead in the 12th century. The horse refers to the tradition of horse racing on Banstead Downs in the 17th century and immortalised in the Oaks race of Epsom Derby Friday. On the necks of the animals are wreaths again in the blue and yellow. On the shoulders are roundels of blue and white waves indicating

1960-513: The southern aspects of Colley Hill and Reigate Hill noteworthy enough to have had a major memorial and a picnic area with large café respectively. Historically much of this third was named Walton Heath and Banstead Heath . The softer Greensand Ridge which is parallel to the south breaks up in the middle of the borough, forming the Redhill basin and various mounds around Reigate before continuing in both directions at higher elevations, see

2009-533: The street with the greatest number, Quality Street, arcs off at a tangent from this curve of the High Street. This was named after J.M. Barrie's play of the same name, in honour of two of the actors in the play, Ellaline Terriss and Seymour Hicks, who for a time lived in the Old Forge at the end of the street. 1 High Street partly dates to the 17th century. The earlier of the two Merstham railway tunnels

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2058-488: The towns of Banstead , Horley and Redhill . Parts of the borough are within the Surrey Hills , a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty . Northern parts of the borough, including Banstead, lie inside the M25 motorway which encircles London . The neighbouring districts are Tandridge , Crawley , Mole Valley , Epsom and Ewell , Sutton and Croydon , the latter two being London boroughs . The district

2107-433: Was constructed between 1972 and 1975, at the same time as the southern section of the M25 from Godstone to Reigate (M25 junctions 6 to 8). The current northern terminus at junction 7 uses the original sliproads to meet the A23 and a flyover above the junction built for the onward northern continuation remains unused. The cancellation of the unbuilt northern section from the M25 in towards Central London has resulted in

2156-579: Was constructed from the Thames through to Dungeness (designated the T/D pipeline) to supply fuel to the PLUTO cross-channel pipelines that were to run from Dungeness to Boulogne, code named DUMBO. A section of the T/D pipeline ran through Merstham and the T/D was part of the then secret government pipeline network later known as the Government Pipeline and Storage System (GPSS). After World War II ,

2205-604: Was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , covering the whole of two former districts and part of a third, which were all abolished at the same time: The new district was named Reigate and Banstead after two of the former districts. The district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor . Reigate and Banstead Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Surrey County Council , which

2254-507: Was financed as part of the development of Maidenbower by the construction consortium. It has only a northbound slip road, no southbound access. The M23 was planned to relieve congestion on the A23 through Streatham , Thornton Heath , Purley and Coulsdon in south London and was originally intended to terminate in Streatham Vale at a junction with the controversial London Ringways Plan's Ringway 2 (the intended replacement of

2303-506: Was in an article published in the Surrey Archaeological Collection for 1912. Merstham appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Merstan . It was held by Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury . Its domesday assets were: 5 hides ; 1 church, 1 mill worth 2s 6d, 10 ploughs , 8 acres (3.2 ha) of meadow , woodland and herbage worth 41 hogs . It rendered £12. The area has long been known for its quarries, with

2352-509: Was published on 12 March 2020 and required no immediate amendments to the design or construction, however new technology to detect static vehicles is required to be fitted within three years, and a review on spacing of emergency refuge areas was to be carried out. The fourth lane was opened to traffic on 2 April 2020, however with a temporary 50 mph speed limit. Works were scheduled to take place until July 2020 to finish installation of equipment, followed by testing and commissioning, before

2401-416: Was the scene of a murder on 24 September 1905. The mutilated body of Mary Sophia Money was found in the tunnel and was first thought to be a case of suicide. On inspection, however, a scarf was found in the victim's throat, and marks on the tunnel wall showed that she had been thrown from a moving train. The crime was never solved, but suspicion rested on her brother, Robert Money. In 1943 a petroleum pipeline

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